Solar collectors are devices for recovering heat from solar radiation. A solar collector traps and absorbs the energy contained in sunlight, whereby in contrast to photovoltaic systems almost the entire radiation spectrum of the sunlight is used with high efficiency. The most important component of the panel is the absorber, which transforms the light energy of the sun into heat and the latter is conducted to a heat carrier medium flowing through it. The absorber is usually realized by means of an absorber plate, which is designed to catch direct and diffuse solar radiation as well as possible and convert the latter into heat. Frequently the absorber plate, which includes a copper alloy or aluminum alloy, must also ensure that the heat absorbed does not escape again in the form of heat emission. In order to minimize the energy losses through emission of radiant heat by the absorber plate, the latter has a so-called highly selective coating. Typically absorption values for sunlight of the highly selective coating amount to about 94% and emission values to less than 6%. The highly selective coatings consist of extremely thin coats, which are usually produced by a “physical vapor deposition” (PVD) process or a “chemical vapor deposition” (CVD) process. In the PVD process a strip is fed, via air-lock systems, into a vacuum coating machine and there it passes several cathodes, connected one behind the other, on which the coating material is assembled as target. Particles are driven out from the target, consisting of coating material, by accelerated argon ions and settle on the surface of the metallic strip, forming a permanent bond with the latter. Subsequently, the strip is locked out from the vacuum and coiled up. Although small thicknesses can be obtained with the prior art process, the capital outlay for PVD or CVD installations is very high. This is reflected in the cost of the absorber plate.